The Two Princes-Part 5
by Vennecca
Summary: A romance between Anduin Wrynn and Wrathion, The Black prince. They must learn to trust one another and their friendship begins to stir feelings in them both.


Anduin was strangely quiet after his vivid dream. He could almost swear it was real, that he had saved Wrathion with a kiss. A kiss with a purpose, but he could feel soft lips on his. When he remembered the feeling it was enjoyable. As soon as their lips had touched, there was no fear of drowning. They swam in that moment in the Light and the next thing Anduin knew, he was waking up in bed from a healing sleep.

He wondered if he should tell Wrathion about it, but found himself too shy to bring it up. How do you tell someone you dreamed about kissing them, and that just happened to keep you from dying in the healing practice? He thought a long time about the experience, and thought a long time about how to tell Wrathion, but dismissed every option.

Wrathion was beginning to suspect something had gone wrong the last time. Anduin had to reassure him multiple times that it had gone fine, better than ever before, in fact. But that was all he would tell Wrathion, and the Black Prince would leave the conversation alone for a while, even if he didnt believe Anduin.

Breakfast was silent. Anduin was lost in thought, Wrathion lost in concern. Schemes and plans, long designed in the Black Prince's mind, poked holes in his thought patterns, but he did not have to make another move for some time. His plans depended on interactions between the Alliance and Horde in the near future. He would react accordingly. Right now, he had time to worry about his friend.

"I want to show you something, Anduin," He broke the silence. Nervously he stood up. Anduin followed. Wrathion led the blonde prince to a far corner of the room. They rounded a room divider to see two pandaren guardsmen. They bowed their heads to Wrathion, who motioned for them to wait outside. The guards left, and Wrathion turned to the only man left in the small room.

In the middle of a sunken floor stood a masked man with long hair. Beside him was a glorious and enormous chest. Wrathion whispered something to the man that Anduin could not hear. The man produced a key he wore on a chain around his neck, beneath the bandana mask, and handed it to The Black Prince.

He showed it to Anduin. "I keep the key somewhere safe," he said, "If anything were to happen to me, my men are ordered to destroy the chest. Only I know what to say to make my guard hand me the key, and only I am capable of using it."

Wrathion leaned over the chest and held the key to his mouth. Fire flicked out from between the dragon's lips and heated the key. Anduin almost swore he saw magical runes ignite and then fade as Wrathion slid the key into the lock of the chest and turned. One loud click echoed against the wooden walls.

Wrathion did not lift the lid. He handed the key back to the masked man, who placed it back around his neck and hurried out of the small room. Wrathion stood and waved to the chest, "Look inside."

Anduin knelt down cautiously and placed a hand on the lid. He lifted it heavily. White smoke poured like fog from the chest. Eerie light illuminated it from inside. The lid lifted higher to reveal an oval shaped object alone in the large chest. Anduin waved his hand back and forth to see past the fog.

It was a dragon egg.

Anduin said nothing. He stared in awe at the shimmering obsidian surface, the glints of reflected light like stars on a clear night.

"I need to rebuild my flight," Wrathion explained.

"This really is a black dragon egg then? You aren't the last?" Anduin was shocked, and fear tickled his soul. Wrathion was so different than any other black dragon. When he had rid the world of their corruption it had relieved Anduin. Now that relief was cracking.

"This egg is still tainted by the curse the rest of my flight was doomed to endure. I have been trying to find a way to cleanse it." Wrathion leaned over and pressed the lid to the chest down. It closed with another loud click, locking tight. "I have to keep it in a magical stasis so it doesnt hatch naturally before it is purified."

Anduin was slightly baffled. Wrathion had expressed his contempt for the red flight for what they did to his egg. The red dragonflight had used titan magic and artifacts to purify Wrathion's egg in order to cleanse the black flight. They had planned to hatch Wrathion under their watch. A prisoner, punished for the sins of his father.

The only red dragon Wrathion did not hate so venomously might be Rheastrasza, the red dragon who had discovered a way to purify a black dragon egg, and had sacrificed her life to save him. She might be the closest thing Wrathion could have to a mother, and the only person he might have loved like one, if he had loved anyone. She had not planned to imprison the welp. She wanted to free them. The rest of the red flight had taken her idea in a new direction after her death.

Now Wrathion was experimenting on an egg also. How would this egg be hatched? As a captive, responsible for birthing pure black dragons? Anduin prayed to The Light that Wrathion was not a hypocrite, but he could see the look of sorrow on the Black Prince's face. He did not want to treat this egg, one of his kind, as a prisoner. It was jailed in a timeless stasis, inside a chest under a magical lock.

"I am hoping your skills involving The Light improve enough to help me," Wrathion smoothed his hand over the lid of the chest, "Would you help purify this egg, if you were able?"

Anduin did not know how to respond. He had no idea how to begin to purify the taint of the Old Gods. He was afraid. "How can I?" he wondered, "I can barely heal myself!"

"I know this is overwhelming, Anduin," Wrathion soothed, "but you have time to master your gift. It may be years before we even open this chest again. Consider it for me, please?" He placed his hands on Anduin's shoulders and looked straight into cool blue eyes. "I have faith in you." Anduin looked back into the dark red glow under Wrathion's lashes and nodded. "Tell no one of this. You are the only one to ever see the contents of this chest."


End file.
